Minisode 13: Happy Ostara!

Grab your springiest mocktail and settle in for a brief overview of Ostara, including CONTROVERY, then stay for Amy's fangirlling over medievalist Eleanor Janega, bareknuckle boxing, and a list of our favorite historians!

Affirmation: I am nurturing and growing a life that brings me joy!

In the Southern Hemisphere? Check out our Mabon Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2429206/episodes/17883603

Amy's Ostara Sources

https://www.tragicbeautiful.com/blogs/book-of-spells/rituals-for-ostara?_pos=1&_psq=rituals+for+ost

https://www.thornandclaw.com/blogs/news/how-to-celebrate-ostara-the-spring-equinox?srsltid=AfmBOop_vpZKCfGJBG83O4mW9QrPN2hATSeVSMsvNMBGd3zTOVWSRMqN

https://rebeccadouglas.co.uk/honour-spring-equinox-seasonal-rituals-and-mantras-for-balance-at-ostara/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C4%92ostre

https://www.learnreligions.com/hold-a-spring-rebirth-ritual-for-ostara-2562479

Ostara (1884) By Johannes Gehrts (1855–1921) - https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=129455268

Free Spirited Lavender Limoncello (Energy: Renewal, Protection, Joy)

from Mystical Mocktails by Julia Halina Hadas: https://witchcraftcocktails.com/

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 60 mL (2 oz) lemon-lavender cordial* (see recipe below)
• 90 mL (3 oz) freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 60 mL (2 oz) non-alcoholic sparkling white wine or 120 mL (4 oz) soda water
• Lavender sprig or lemon peel twist for garnish

 Directions

1. In a champagne flute, pour in cordial and lemon juice
2. Top with sparkling white wine or soda water (bubbles for celebration!)
3. Garnish with lavender sprig or lemon peel twist

Cordial recipe (yields approx 6 oz)

• Peel of 2 lemons
• 100 g (½ cup) sugar 
• ½-1 TB dried lavender
• 120 mL (½ cup) hot water

Directions

1. Peel lemons & place peels in airtight jar, cover with sugar, and shake
2. Let the mixture sit for 24-48 hours, shaking occasionally.
3. Add lavender to the mixture & pour in hot water. Steep for 5-10 minutes then strain.

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Thanks - the Caftan Coven

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:04

Welcome to Cliffhangers and Cocktails Podcast with Amy Sissel, That's Me, and Shaya McLeod. That's me. We are USA Today best-selling authors of paranormal women's fiction, among other things. And this podcast is brought to you, as always, by the Caftan Coven.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Today's episode is another mini sode where we discuss a single topic related to the craft, whether it be craft cocktails, witchcraft, or writing craft. And these are going to be great for you to listen to when you don't have a lot of time for like a full podcast or you want specific info on a particular topic. And today's topic is the upcoming Sabbath Ostara.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

I am a big fan of spring. Just gonna say it.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

I mean, spring is a nice I like spring. I would say fall is my favorite, but spring, right up there.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

I like them all. I mean right now, spring is my favorite. Yeah. Asking September, totally different favorite.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

The closer we get to Sam Sawin, the the more we like fall. Yes.

unknown 1:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:18

Um, so I have an affirmation for us today for Ostara.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Yay!

SPEAKER_03 1:23

Um, and we'll come back to it, I think, after we talk a little bit about what Ostara is and what it means. But the affirmation for today is I am nurturing and growing a life that brings me joy.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

Ooh, I like that. I'm gonna circle that in a big green marker. See, look, green marker on my script. I love it. I love that whole brings me joy thing. So tell me, Amy, what is Ostara?

SPEAKER_03 1:54

I am so glad you asked. Um, Ostara is a uh Wiccan and Pagan holiday. It was it's really been something that's been kind of brought into the pagan, Western pagans, anyway, Western European pagans, um, consciousness through the Wiccans. But it is a holiday that takes place on the spring equinox. This year, that's March 20th in the Northern Hemisphere. Our Southern Hemisphere, friends, are celebrating Christmas again.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

Everyone, it's always Christmas. It's always every winter, always Australia.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

So um, they're celebrating Mavon this week, they're having their autumnal equinox. So that is what they're up to. So if you are in the Southern Hemisphere and you want to know what's going on with Mavon, we do have a mini seat, and I will link that at the end so you can go watch that if you'd like to. Or listen to it if you're not watching and just listening. Or you can do both. I don't care. Um, do it. The Vernel Equinox, the Spring Equinox, is celebrates the return of the light, and it's a celebration of fertility, rebirth, and renewal. So it's a really good time to reconnect with the earth and to honor the balance of darkness and light. And I have to tell you that I saw this chart today that was showing the amount of daylight gained in March. And it was only for the United States, which is uh but in Portland in the United States, uh huh, from March 1st to March 31st, you gain 90 minutes of daylight.

SPEAKER_01 3:31

That's a lot of daylight. Yeah, because we don't get a lot of daylight in the winter. Yeah. Well, I mean, yeah. I don't know how much daylight I'm getting, but I'm gonna assume whoever is on your same uh latitude.

SPEAKER_03 3:45

Yeah, I just didn't bother like looking to see how where that would go.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

I'm not even sure what the latitude for Porto would be. I do know that it has like the same climate as Portland.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Yeah, yeah. But we're coastal, we're 41 degrees north.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Right, but the the actual climate classification is the same, but the but the light, I think you get way more light.

SPEAKER_03 4:12

We have more, for sure. Because we're 41 and Portland, Oregon is 45. Right. And a half.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

41st parallel. Let's see what's on the 41st parallel. No, that can't be right. Port Porto's on the 41st parallel? 41.1. Really? Because that's like this is telling me Wyoming. Yes. Okay. Well, yeah. Right. Okay, wild. Alright. For some reason, I always try to put Wyoming up in Montana. This is my problem.

SPEAKER_03 4:47

Like I'm actually really either the Wyomingans, Wyoming, or the Montanians will like this.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

No, I don't think so. Uh and the crazy thing was I've always been really good at geography, but but all of a sudden my perimenopausal brain is going, no, things are located elsewhere. Uh, that's where I got confused. Okay. Yeah, so you're probably on par with whatever's happening in southern Oregon, Northern California. Who knows? Who knows what's going on? But we're getting more light, and that's the important thing. So I always I like the name Ostara because um and of course, as as we know, it was sort of bastardized into Easter later on, but um, but there's a goddess called Ostara. That is like, right? And that's what it's named after.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

Yeah, um that is like her original name, Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostra.

SPEAKER_01 5:50

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 5:52

Um, but we don't know if she was real.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

We we don't know she was real, but of course she don't know if she was real. I mean No. We don't know. Oh if she was Oh, if she really was an A, like if the Anglo-Saxons really worshipped her, you mean? Yeah. Really? Tell me more. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 6:11

Oh, I will. Say more. Say more on my extensive, extensive Google research.

SPEAKER_02 6:19

Um, the first time she was mentioned was in the 8th century.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Um and if you know, if you're like a medievalist, um of Western European medievalist or are familiar with what was going on in the 8th century, um, you'll know the monk named Bede, B-E-D-E. And he's the first person to talk about it. Um that's like way after the whole yeah, because this is the 700s. What he said was that her festival was celebrated in Yostermonth, which is April. Right. And that's in not modern English.

SPEAKER_01 6:53

No, that sounds almost like Norse or something, like Viking.

SPEAKER_03 7:00

Yostromona Monoth. Yostermonoth. I don't know what language Bede wrote in. I would have thought Latin. Um which makes so it's probably some Germanic Latin basterization. Who knows? I, you know what, if you are a medievalist, or if you are like specifically Eleanor Genega. Please call me. Unless you you're the best Eleanor alive today. I know stuff.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Best Eleanor. Because, yes, so the Anglo-Saxon era was like from the 400s to like 1066 when the Normans invaded. So this is like we're talking like the end of the Anglo-Saxon era when he's writing this. Yes. Pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

So this is the information I got, and I did verify it in a couple different sources. Most sources don't talk about the bead thing. Okay. But I am here to incite controversy and hope that Eleanor Genega will um call me.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

And be like, Can I please come on your pod and tell you how wrong you are about everything?

SPEAKER_03 8:08

And I'll be like, yes, so we only film on location in Porto, so you'll have to come hang out with me. But Eleanor is my new internet crush. Okay. Um, excellent. We all need those. That was a long. I'm gonna have to tag her like five times and then get a new screen order. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

I support this. I support this.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

I'll let you know how it goes, everyone. Okay, yes. So that's the controversy. Is we don't know if this is someone made up by the monks or if this was something new that wasn't like, you know, that wasn't old and wasn't necessarily pre-Christian, if it was a new worship. We don't know. I mean, obviously, all gods are made up in some way or another. Yeah, because they're all pieces of the fabric of reality that humans tell to make sense of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 8:59

I believe in universal energy and all that stuff, but yeah, I don't I think the gods are about as real as humans make them, essentially. I agree. And I just find that really interesting because I didn't actually, I don't think I ever, you know, I've done also some very deep uh dives on the Google about things. No, I've done, yeah, I've read about stuff, but I I didn't ever realize that uh there was a little bit of a controversy, shall we say, about whether or not Ostara was actually worshipped by the ancient Anglo-Saxon folk.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

I like to believe there's fist fisticuffs involved in controversies like this. Oh, yes, there's medieval scholars who are very interested in like uh folklore and paganism and mythology, and they're just like fighting about it at their conferences. And also, um, I want to go to one of those conferences, and so maybe Eleanor can have your plus one.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

Now, see, when we say fisticuffs, and I imagine that I don't imagine actual fisticuffs, I imagine like these gentlemen in top hats, or gentle ladies in top hats, or gentle folk in top hats taking out their gloves and smacking each other upside the face with the glove.

SPEAKER_03 10:16

I imagine gentle folk in top hats and like fancy dress, but also bare knuckle boxing, just so we're clear on what's in my head.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

So they start with the slapping and then they go to the bare knuckle boxing. I like it. I like this for us. Okay. Okay. And that is the story of Ostara. We accidentally invent a whole weird religion. Um, okay. Yes, this is what I've always wanted. Can we have a cult now? I really want a cult. I actually sort of started a cult at one point, but but the main way to worship our god in this cult was by eating chocolate.

SPEAKER_03 10:55

I don't like your cult.

SPEAKER_01 10:56

I know, because you're not into chocolate.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

My cult is all cheese and champagne. Well and bread products.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

I mean, did you know that Parmesan has the highest amount of protein per gram of any food product, including like beef and stuff? Yes. Did you? I didn't know that until I saw I saw something about it. Like, I love I like this for us. I love this for us. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Also, there's potatoes in my cult.

SPEAKER_01 11:26

Oh, potatoes. But there needs to be like pastry of some kind. Cake? I said bread. Bread products. Bread pro I mean cake is not the same as bread, but okay.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

So honoring a star's balance is all about balancing your pastry versus your champagne versus your cheese versus your potatoes.

SPEAKER_01 11:49

We're learning so much today. We really are. Wow. We are full of information. So the spring equinox, that's when this happens, yeah. Yes, it is.

SPEAKER_03 12:02

Um, and it's not about being rigid with your rituals. Right. Um, it's really this is one of those natural earth cycles that that we're just kind of going with the flow. We're leaning into our own energy, we're marking the seasonal threshold in a way that feels meaningful to us. So, this is very much going with our catchphrase. I've decided it's our catchphrase, you do you boo, that Shaya coined that comes up almost every episode at least once. So, whether you're doing like a simple act of reflection or movement or intentional connection with the land, this brings you in step with the seasons and with clarity and presence and purpose.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Yes. And I love that it's it's like you said, it's about balance and not just with cheese and pastries. Because it's the although that's an important food groups. This time of year, the spring equinox is when like day and night are perfectly balanced, same amount of day and night. And of course, that's been observed by many ancient cultures the world over. And you you mentioned, no, you didn't mention, but it says here in my script about the druids doing something. Now I'm gonna slaughter this called They Celebrated Alban Elyr. Elyr?

SPEAKER_03 13:23

Yes, that sounds great.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Elyr. Okay, awesome. The light of the earth. Ooh, I like that. And oh, I'd read this before too, that they actually decorated eggs to honor fertility. Oh, and then here's your Persephone girl again. Ancient Greeks and Persephone. Yes, we do love Persephone, who mar uh the ancient Greeks marked her return from the underworld, which signaled the earth's rebirth. And of course, we've got pomegranates and good stuff going on there. Balance is not about rigidity at all. I mean, that's no, no.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

I practice yoga and I have for well over 20 years at this point. And one of the things that you learn when you're going into some of those standing balance poses is that you can't be rigid. You have to you can't lock your knees, keep your core firm, but you have to be able to let your body make minute adjustments to stay where you are at.

SPEAKER_01 14:17

And I think you would cause yourself harm, yeah, if you were locked in like that with those poses.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Oh, you do. You do cause yourself harm. I've heard and not experienced.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

Okay, so how is those stars celebrated today? You may ask.

SPEAKER_03 14:34

Obviously, everybody does something, does, does things a little bit different. Um, a lot of celebrations to take like some of the more ancient customs uh with personal ritual. So doing things like for modern stuff, nature walks, connecting to nature, touching grass, spring cleaning is a really good thing to do. And do it with intention, don't just be like, I have to clean.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Why are you gonna call me out like that?

SPEAKER_03 15:02

You're you're banishing that negative energy, you're opening the windows, you're letting in the sunshine. Sunshine is a great disinfectant, both spiritually and literally, and tossing, tossing that stuff out, making your space doors and only keeping the things that spark joy. Thanks, Marie Kondo. Woo-hoo! I like Marie. I do like Marie. Not upset with her for what she said about books.

SPEAKER_01 15:28

Oh, I mean fair, but she also said keep things that spark joy. Right, and if like 5,000 books sparks joy for you, which it I mean it does for me, let's be honest. You may have 5,000 books.

SPEAKER_03 15:42

Well, when you're moving.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, that's why I'm very uh I curate my physical books very carefully because otherwise I'm gonna need a whole like ocean liner to like carry all my my books, my tarot decks, my magic rocks. Feasting. Ooh, I like the sound of this. We're gonna feast to welcome abundance of spring. And oh, and foods. There's certain foods that you can use to kind of create your meal.

SPEAKER_03 16:16

So in the script, it would have been super handy if I'd put the part where I listed those anywhere near that bullet point.

SPEAKER_01 16:22

Yeah. Um I'm like, wait, where are they? But they are here, they're over here under food and drink, sprouts, eggs, honey. Oh yeah, honey. I was thinking of making a honey cake this year. I always mean to and I never get around to it. Early vegetables, asparagus, fiddleheads and peas. Oh, some people it's funny. I know some people around here will go out and uh forage fiddleheads. But they're so good. I've never had them.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

Oh, you should. Go find a place. There's a place in Portland that serves them. I oh, I'm sure there is. Yeah. Go find some kind of artisan foraging restaurant.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

You'll lamb, fresh herbs. Oh, oh, and herbal teas, like nettle, chamomile, or lemon balm. I lemon balm is so good for you, y'all. It's really good for headaches and stuff. And of course, baking, that's my forte. Honey cakes, seed bread, herb-infused dishes to honor the fertility energy of the season. We got way off track with that one.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

Oh, well, because I didn't put things in a very good order. I don't usually write the scripts, y'all, but I was so excited to do this because I'd listen recently learned about the controversy.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Oh, that's why you were so eager.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

And I'm like, controversy, I will write a script for it.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

I I am happy to have you write the script about the controversy because it was really exciting to learn about the controversy. Uh, let's see, what else can we do to celebrate Ostara? Oh, create an Ostara altar. You often have an altar that you set up, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:56

I do. Um, not usually for Ostara. Um I do one for Imilk and Beltane. But Ostara kind of just gets like, eh, I don't know. Sorry, Ostara. Don't know what's going on with you. Um, but things you can do to put on your altar are fresh flowers, um, because that symbolizes fertility and renewal, eggs, obviously a universal symbol of fertility and new beginnings. Good crystals to use are citrine for abundance, green adventuring for growth, or moonstone for balance. And you can do candles in spring colors to honor the returning light. And good colors to use are yellow for the sunshine, um, green for you know new growth, and then pink for um springingness. Love, rebirth, fertility. Yes, thank you. Femininity.

SPEAKER_01 18:48

Femininity, yes.

SPEAKER_03 18:50

The very lady holiday.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

Yes. Because we're all about new life and all that.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

New life springs forth from our wombs.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

Supposedly. But it's also as a reminder. Your womb may vary. Yeah, your womb may vary. Yeah. Um, but also as a reminder that um fertility is not only about you know creating like human life or or animal life or whatever. Fertility is also about ideas, it's about create just creation in general. So it could be any type of creation. It could be a business, it could be a new home, it could be uh a new garden, it could be a new friendship. Uh fertility is about more than just popping babies out. I want to make that very clear.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

It's not really, it's all about babies.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Ooh, you have a ritual here. I like this. Tell us about your ritual.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

But before we talk about the ritual, I want to say another another thing that you can do is to get out there and greet the sunrise.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Oh, yeah. Like he's coming up early for you. And you should at least say hey.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

I mean, girls here. You can greet the sunrise. I think I will be abed. I will let him rise on his own.

SPEAKER_03 20:25

I do have a ritual, though. Oh, yeah, it's a ritual. Creativity ritual.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

Oh, I love a creativity ritual.

SPEAKER_03 20:30

Um, and this is like because it's a season of fertility, which as Shaya mentioned, um, I mean, she's wrong when she said it was only about popping out babies. I want to say, like, don't listen to her.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Yes, because so much more. That is totally what I said.

SPEAKER_03 20:47

Do not rewind and check.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Do not.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

Um, so no, this is a plant creativity ritual to honor, like, this is a good time to plant your seeds, whether they're seeds for growing stuff in dirt, growing projects or relationships, um, long-term goals. So this spell is this ritual is crafted for intentions to bloom that will bloom over time. So this isn't like I need this tomorrow. This is a we're entering the planting. We are um doing the positive FA part of FAFO. We're planting that which we sow later we shall reap. Um so what you need for this is a small pot, some a seed or seeds, some dirt, a pencil and paper.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:43

So you write a vivid vision of your desired outcome. Not what you want, but how it feels when it becomes real. What is this reality for? Okay. Like for you. How let's say your that your long term desire that you want is to buy. my property that I want here in Porto that I can um host writers um like like writers in residence that's what I want. So how am I gonna feel when this comes to fruition? Like what are all the feelings I'm gonna have? What is this reality gonna look like for me? And the focus on the positive feelings when this outcome becomes reality. When you write this down on your paper. So in your pot, fill it about a quarter away with soil place your intention note inside put some more soil on it and then plant your seed and then gently cover the rest of your seed with the rest of the soil. And then water your seedling. I did say at sunrise and sundown, focusing on your intention, but just be careful you're not overwatering your poor baby seed. It needs attention maybe just like maybe just like give it a little hug sometimes if it the soils.

unknown 22:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Otherwise you're gonna get seed rot.

SPEAKER_03 22:58

Yes be very careful with spend make I think I would reword this to say spend some time at sunrise and sundown or you know when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed at night with your seed pot and kind of focus on your intention at that point and water it if it needs water. And then when your plant is strong you move it to a larger pot or a garden bed because just like your dreams it needs space to thrive. Yes indeed if you planted something edible you can harvest a little once your goal has come to life and incorporate it into food or a drink and that's a special kind of honoring what came to you kind of magic. I like that I like that so if you plant like lavender or something then put it in a cocktail. Um make it into some bread like do something fun with it. And if things shift it's okay because we're all about balance and flexibility and making room for what nature and the universe are bringing to us. Sometimes things seem like we're not on the right path and it turns out we're just taking a snake route or a shortcut.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Totally and sometimes things be unfolding yes and sometimes like you have your plan that you think you want but something else some other opportunity presents itself and that you didn't even know maybe was possible and it shifts what you want. It shifts your path and you don't have to stay on that path and cling to it just because well this was my vision if something new and even better presents itself come on like don't don't you want your goal or something better. Yeah or better that's why I love I love that. So I started adding this this or better and so I have to remind myself be open to better. Yeah I'm waiting for this but I am open for better. And you created a a mocktail just for Ostara like you kind of invented this yourself.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

I did not invent this um this is a from um mystical mocktails by Julia Helena Hadas Hadas okay um and this is somebody that I we've talked about before on the podcast uh she has a couple of her cocktail books but um this is uh her mystical mocktails and it's such a fun book and it's so pretty and I'll have a picture of it in um on our Instagram when this comes out the photography is beautiful and I guess she did it herself.

SPEAKER_01 25:41

Oh did she do her own photography?

SPEAKER_03 25:43

I didn't realize that well she did in that one anyway just said so at the end. Like it's a really interesting just reading the parts of the book as well as the recipes that I was looking for something from there because we don't do mocktails very often. No. And I thought it'd be kind of nice to have one. And so it's called the free spirited lavender lemon cello. And this cocktail really brings the energy of renewal protection and joy. And so we'll have the recipe in the show notes but it's basically it's you create a lemon lavender cordial which is really easy. It's just lemon peels and sugar and then you let that create um it's called an oleosacarin which is just oil and sugar and you let that you let that um hang out until it's all the sugar's all dissolved and you just have this like oily sugar stuff. Then you add a little bit of dried lavender and some hot water. And you let that steep and then you strain it and then you add freshly squeezed lemon juice and either non-alcoholic sparkling wine or four ounces of soda water. And I did soda water because I'm not gonna buy sparkling wine because it doesn't have a fun it because I do drink alcohol so this is um yeah yeah anyway. But it's really tasty mine is not as pretty as hers. I am not apparently a professional mocktail makerslash food photographer yet apparently not me either.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

So you made your own cordial yes ooh that's pretty now I didn't have time to make my own cordial because um I just didn't and I didn't have lemon peels. So I kind of did a version with soda water and um I did um can't really tell here but I just put lemon juice and agave in and then a couple of dashes of lavender bitters. How's that? Yeah it's actually really quite tasty. Yeah. So yeah absolutely similar taste the reason I used agave is because I didn't have time to like make um I'm out of simple syrup and I didn't have time because I know I rarely run out but and it's very easy to make it we're gonna talk about that later but um I had some other syrups on the go that I was making for our next recording that we're doing and so I didn't really have time.

SPEAKER_03 28:14

So I'm just like agave uh is really nice especially with citrus I find and it it disperses really well into water without you know unlike honey honey will clump I find that agave will disperse better so the lemons are for purification protection clearing sugar is to attract positive energy and love. Lavender is for peace love protection and serenity and then you have celebration from the bubbles from the soda butter the non-alcoholic sparkling and obviously you could do this with alcoholic sparkling yeah like you could do lemon cello instead of the cordial like um really good cordial I wish I'd made a ton more instead of just enough for two drinks because this is really nice.

SPEAKER_01 29:04

But oh well I can see more of that cordial being made in your future especially since you seem to have an abundance of lemons.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

My kitchen is almost always covered with like a fine layer of lemon oil and lemon juice.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Because everything is so oily and juicy so whenever I'm doing anything with it it's just like I need to I need to live somewhere where I can just easily get my hands on citrus that I can make these things with. That's obvious.

SPEAKER_03 29:33

Obvious I know what you're planting in your plant ritual pot.

SPEAKER_01 29:38

You better believe it you better believe it. Now I just have to find a seed that will actually grow in I won't kill it because you are the green witch not me although I have found that rosemary is a real tough mother so um maybe I'll put some mint there you go that stuff will grow anywhere and it will take over so there we go there's a Stara do you have anything more to say on the subject I mean just go out there and literally touch some grass hug a tree get some sunshine yeah well that's good celebrate the returning of the light yes I have to say the older I get the more I enjoy the return of the light I I am a Pacific Northwest girl I have rainwater in my veins moss between my toes but um but I mean I don't you know I'm not a big sun worshiper.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

I mean look I glow in the dark literally she actually is sitting in the dark y'all but with so like so luminescent.

SPEAKER_01 30:47

Yeah so I you know I'm not as much of a sun worshipper but I I find that I enjoy a little more light these days than I used to when I was younger I like our sunshine days here it's it's nice to be able to sit outside and have all the windows open because the minute it gets over in the mornings if it's over 10 degrees um if it's over 10 degrees uh which is about 50 we're gonna go with Fahrenheit.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

Probably that sounds about right I I open all the windows or all the I open the doors out to the balcony. And the cats like it because they can do laps. But I like to have that as long as it's not pouring and windy as soon as it's uh 10 degrees I'm like open open I would like to have light and fresh air.

SPEAKER_01 31:36

And sit down on your little balcony and look over Porto with your lemon cello thing you live a tough life I have to say it's hard beaming beanie it really is right now. Well God bless uh so where can everybody find our our sources and our recipe and all that good stuff um all the sources that I drew information from are gonna be in the show notes.

SPEAKER_03 32:12

Excellent woohoo so be sure and check those out I did keep a lot of the links to the places where I got some of my research um okay great probably not all of them because an apologize to everybody who got left out they don't know who they are.

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Also you know I'm gonna tag um my new favorite medievalist isn't it weird that we have favorite historians because I also have favorite historians. Lucy Worsley is like my favorite historian like ever you know she's done things on the Tudors she's done things on like just all kinds of different time periods. She's done things on Agatha Christie Betany Hughes is another one of my favorites Lynette oh is it North Nursbacher who is a World War II historian or something like a military historian she's delightful I have favorite historians.

SPEAKER_03 33:06

Have you ever watched YouTube channel that my best friend Eleanor is on no I would love to tell you what it is okay I probably shouldn't call her my best friend until like I find out if she's gonna put a restraining order against that would be a little bit awkward if like it would be yeah history hit is the YouTube channel. And it's got all these different historians that um are experts in different time periods and they have like fun little episodes like um some of the more recent ones are reacting to Margot Robbie's Mary Queen of Scots movie. Okay and Tutor Expert Reacts to Harry the Eighth on screen what were Georgian attitudes towards Seth and it's just really really fun the I found Eleanor because I was uh had seen somebody who was a a specialist in Roman history you know ancient Roman history uh critiquing life of Brian which was amazing and then the next one it was like how about if you watch medieval historian reacts to Monty Python and the holy grail and I'm like yes please yes please and now that is how our best friendship began oh okay and she doesn't know but it's it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Not yet not yet well thank you for joining us all on this lovely minip podcast. Coming to my love letter to Eleanor Janega please like subscribe share ask us questions comment yeah who's your favorite historian I wanna know tell me who your favorite historian is in the comment in the show that knows because we really want to know how weird we are like is this normal do you have a favorite historian please tell us in the show notes also tell us how you celebrate a star oh yes that also which I believe was appropriate for Star Up Exactly anyway thank you all so much for listening I hope this was at least mildly enjoyable for you and we'll see you next time on the pod